I approached this film not knowing too much about it, although I was a little aware of the Manson murders, Sharon Tate, and the fact that this film was loosely set around those events, but very much a fictional version of them (or a total fairy tale as is suggested by the title). Watching the film needed me to invest in that approach from the very start, because it is a nostalgic imagining of a better time without much of a connection to reality. This is made reasonably clear throughout by the insertion of the characters into real shows and films of the era, and of course by significant elements of the ending, which changes history somewhat.
What is less clear is 'why' the film is doing this. It produces a reasonably enjoyable film with plenty to enjoy in the moment, in the performances, and in the overall delivery, but in terms of narrative flow it feels so fragmented and unfocused that it is hard to stick with it for such a long running time. Almost all of the scenes are engaging in some way, but as a whole they do not come together; even the extreme revision of history seems like it lacks a specific point or message for the casual viewer. It was a distancing effect on me because I enjoyed all these moments but yet was happy in them without caring really for what came next.
The performances are strong. Pitt is good (although I was surprised by his Oscar) but I found DiCaprio to be the stronger performance as he had more character to get his teeth into. Robbie is a cheery presence, but only that - she isn't really a character so much as a frame of reference that we have to like; as such she works, but it doesn't sit well in the film because there is a lot of oddity when it comes to the handling of characters. The women are consistently fawned over, with a particularly weird focus on feet almost every chance it gets. Likewise the female characters bring less to the film, and are much more 'devices' than even some male characters with very little screen time.
In the end, it is still a solid movie with plenty to like about it, but this is almost in spite of itself. It has unforced problems, seems rambling and messy, and relies a lot on the sheer force of its talent (cast and crew) to make the film work as well as it does - but this isn't well enough for something this long that doesn't have a strong enough narrative through-line.
What is less clear is 'why' the film is doing this. It produces a reasonably enjoyable film with plenty to enjoy in the moment, in the performances, and in the overall delivery, but in terms of narrative flow it feels so fragmented and unfocused that it is hard to stick with it for such a long running time. Almost all of the scenes are engaging in some way, but as a whole they do not come together; even the extreme revision of history seems like it lacks a specific point or message for the casual viewer. It was a distancing effect on me because I enjoyed all these moments but yet was happy in them without caring really for what came next.
The performances are strong. Pitt is good (although I was surprised by his Oscar) but I found DiCaprio to be the stronger performance as he had more character to get his teeth into. Robbie is a cheery presence, but only that - she isn't really a character so much as a frame of reference that we have to like; as such she works, but it doesn't sit well in the film because there is a lot of oddity when it comes to the handling of characters. The women are consistently fawned over, with a particularly weird focus on feet almost every chance it gets. Likewise the female characters bring less to the film, and are much more 'devices' than even some male characters with very little screen time.
In the end, it is still a solid movie with plenty to like about it, but this is almost in spite of itself. It has unforced problems, seems rambling and messy, and relies a lot on the sheer force of its talent (cast and crew) to make the film work as well as it does - but this isn't well enough for something this long that doesn't have a strong enough narrative through-line.